Former Athens plant manager indicted for alleged multimillion dollar payroll scheme

By Joe Johnson

An Athens-Clarke County grand jury has indicted a former food manufacturer official in connection with analleged scheme that embezzled millions of dollars from his company.

James Henderson Kennamer is charged with multiple counts of felony theft for stealing the funds from Integrity Foods, according to the indictment filed this week in Superior Court,

Police and court records lay out the scheme and show where the stolen funds went:

When managing the plant on Old Hull Road for Integrity, Kennamer was in charge of hiring and firing and had complete control over the company’s payroll.

Documents reveal that for a period of six years he continued paying the salaries of employees even after he’d been fired for falsifying time cards and having their paychecks direct-deposited into his bank account.

The alleged scheme netted the 50-year-old defendant a total of $3 million, according to records.

Kennamer was fired after Integrity officials discovered that he was embezzling company funds. An internal audit had been prompted by letters from the Social Services Administration concerning salaries being paid to employees even after they no longer worked for Integrity.

That led to a criminal investigation by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department that resulted in Kennamer being arrested and charged with 15 counts of identity fraud and one count of theft by taking.

The charges were based on the number of former employees identities the investigation was able to confirm Kennamer had fraudulently used to steal $719,000 over a period of two years.

The investigation discovered that Kennamer had accounted for a lavish lifestyle by telling coworkers that he lived off of a trust fund.

“It is important to note Kennamer’s spending habits appear to far exceed his single income per year after reviewing his bank statements,” Detective Blake Manning stated in an affidavit.

The investigation was unable to find any such trusts.

The former Integrity manager’s house at 1060 Colorado Bend in Watkinsville is said by Zillow to be valued at $760,600.

Police also identified multiple bank accounts belonging to both Kennamer and his wife, Caroline Lozano-Calderon.

Although not charged with any crimes, Lozano-Calderon is thought by police to have been complicit in her husband’s scheme.

Despite not having an employment record for at least several years, one of her accounts held $80,000.

“I believe based on the facts of this case, Caroline aided James in moving the stolen funds from Integrity Foods to different bank accounts to prevent suspicious activity reports from being filed and conceal the stolen funds from James’s personal accounts,” the detective said in affidavits for warrants to search the house in Watkinsville.

According to the detective, Kennamer sold a house for $442,000 just prior to being fired by Integrity, apparently realizing that he had come under criminal investigation.

It was also about that time Lozano-Calderon withdrew $49,000 from one bank account and deposited it into an account with a different bank, the investigation found.

Kennamer was arrested last November when police executed a search warrant for his house.

He was granted bail in the amount of $100,000, with conditions that he surrender his passport and remain under house arrest in Watkinsville.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on December 1st.